Help me keep my S3

[mlc331]

I'm going to try and make this short

I've was there in the beginning with Android with the Moto Droid. Have had most of the newest/latest greatest when they came out. I've had phones such as the X, the Incredible etc. etc. Even got into a little bit of Rooting with the X - didn't care for the rooting game at all.

So about two years ago, I went to the Iphone. I was a mac user anyway and I also have an ipad. I recently replaced my wife's 4s with a S3 due to her frustration with group texting and navigation on the iphone. Basically just got tired of the bitching.

All that said, I felt that the ANDROID os was, well... in it's infant stages.

Now that I've got my wife back in the Android world with the S3... wow. It's a pretty awesome phone. Screen is beautiful, and the feel is awsome. Super speedy and seemingly stutter-free. I liked it so much, I went out and got one. Playing around with it, here are my issues that are pushing me back to my 4s.

1. Contacts are a mess. I can't touch/click on a name or face and have it directly dial out. I've got to go through many steps.

2. Voice recognition is a mess. Siri isn't perfect, but the samsung voice control is week at best. For example, If I call on Siri and simply say "what is the Team USA medal count". She'll immediately do a web search and I can choose a result. Again, she isn't always on here game, but it's much more refined. IMO

3. LTE is nice... but often times, my 4s is pulling down info faster on the web even when the 4LTE is illuminated at the top of the phone.

I really want this to work as Apple isn't really sparking anything new right now. Nothing exciting - but I know that's a personal opinion. My apple buddies would probably be looking to shoot me right now.

HELP! Make my experience all that it could be.

 

[sherlock5545]

1. No need to press, swipe right to call, swipe left to send a SMS.

2. S Voice is garbage, wait for Google Now, which will be released with the Jelly Bean update for the Galaxy S3.

3. Can't say much, I live in England, we don't have 4G. My S3 is as fast as my iPhone4

Android is getting better and better, Jelly Bean is smooth and powerful, I wouldn't move back to iOS.

New Google Search / Now Demo - Siri Killer ? - YouTube

 

[CrimsonPride]

Yep the other guy got it right. And I'll add, if you are looking at someones contact information, you can hold the phone up to your face and it will automatically call if you have the motion thing activated. And Google Now is also great when it comes out. I currently have it on my phone and told it exactly what you said, and this is what it showed.

And finally for speed, I've had no problem. I get around 8mbps down and 2 up. Plenty fast for anything I do on my phone.

 

[Metfanant]

1. Contacts are a mess. I can't touch/click on a name or face and have it directly dial out. I've got to go through many steps.

you swipe on the S3...

left to send a text
right to call them

2. Voice recognition is a mess. Siri isn't perfect, but the samsung voice control is week at best. For example, If I call on Siri and simply say "what is the Team USA medal count". She'll immediately do a web search and I can choose a result. Again, she isn't always on here game, but it's much more refined. IMO

S-Voice is a piece of crap...Google Now is much better and should be coming with the update to JellyBean

3. LTE is nice... but often times, my 4s is pulling down info faster on the web even when the 4LTE is illuminated at the top of the phone.

LTE is still in its infancy...and because its not anywhere near as widespread as the 3G network you're often bouncing in and out of coverage faster than your phone can even realize and switch the icons...

not to mention that its just a fact that speeds will vary GREATLY on 4G depending on a lot of factors...unfortunately just because you're in 4G coverage doesn't mean you're going to be reaping the full benefits of it...

as 4G becomes more common over the next few years things will certainly improve...

I really want this to work as Apple isn't really sparking anything new right now. Nothing exciting - but I know that's a personal opinion. My apple buddies would probably be looking to shoot me right now.

HELP! Make my experience all that it could be.

im an Apple fan myself...probably more so than Android when it comes to a variety of devices...

when it comes to "computers" i own an iMac, a Macbook Pro, an iPad2, and my Galaxy S3...

i prefer Android on my phone because i love to tinker with it...but you couldn't pay me to trade my iPad2 for ANY tablet with Android on it...

this is all a personal preference thing...

 

[AntimonyER]

Hey, so here is some info I have.

1. The reason you have to go through an extra step is because Apple holds a patent for pressing on a contact to call them, and has won an injunction regarding that feature. (We will save the mess that is the Apple patent world for another thread, there are plenty ). That being said, it looks like sherlock turned you on to a feature of touchwiz that I was unaware of. Thanks sherlock!

2. I have a nexus, and Google Now is fantastic. The comparisons between the three (S-Voice, Siri, and Google Now) has Google Now > Siri > S-Voice. Very accurate, and very fast at returning results. Just no quirky responses, sorry.

3. From my experience, the radios in the S3 (and all other Samsung LTE phones for that matter, including my Nexus) are less than stellar. It is a dark spot on an otherwise stellar phone. Of course Verizon has stated there is a fix in the works, but who knows how long and how much it will fix. LTE slower than 3G means a very weak data connection for LTE most likely.

 

[clitrenta]

Well, none of this is a problem for me. You can make "Direct Dial" shortcuts with Android which allows you simply press the person's pic and it dials them. Pretty easy. (you can also make Direct Message shortcuts)

I also agree that S Voice isn't all that great. Still, it may surpass SIRI with the next update. It's a nice feature but not a deal breaker for me.

As for the whole Apple thing - I gave up my 4S to have this phone. The iPhone runs well but it simply does NOT have the ability to customize that Android does. As well as it worked, I became bored with it.

I had an AT&T iPhone and I can't tell you how much I hated afternoons as data slowed down to a crawl. Speed won't matter much if there's no bandwidth available. I could barely function after noon. Both of these phones are 4G but neither one of them made me go "wow" with its speed.

I wanted the SGS3 as much for its size as anything. I needed something bigger and iPhone just isn't going to get it done for me and my tired old eyes.

This is just my opinion but I prefer Googles Cloud Services way over the iCloud. iCloud's calendar, e-mail, contacts and Pages/Numbers just looks amatuerish to me even if it does sync nicely. Google Apps are considerably more flexible.

Last but not least: Even though they are constantly improving the iPhone, it still "looks" the same from one model to the next. Apple needs to get off its butt and come up with something totally new in the physical look of iphone - starting with its size.

Android continues to get better and better and there are TONS of choices in what phone you choose to run it on. I honestly can sit here and say that my iPhone 4S did not run any better than my Galaxy S3 but at least my S3 can keep me from getting bored with it simply because I can change its "look" as often as I want.

In the end, you have to get what works best for you. All I can say is I have NO complaints about my S3 other than it could stand a little improvement in picking up a strong signal but then I think my iPhone had that problem at times as well.

 

[mlc331]

Thanks for the awesome replies.

I would agree with Clitrenta, in that the Iphone has just become boring for me. However and with all due respect, I want ajustability as well as ease. Meaning that I don't want to mess with rooting in order to have the phone do what I want it to do. I'm sitting here looking at my 4s, thinking that I'm going to give the S3 another week or so.

Concerning "Direct Dialing".... how do I do that? do I have to assign something to the contact?

Also, I use to be able to make the LED a different color for different notifications... (back in the day). Is that no longer an option or was I able to do that in a different launcher. I really don't want to change launchers.

Lastly, how can I improve my battery? Is there a stronger battery out there in E-land?

 

[Metfanant]

Lastly, how can I improve my battery? Is there a stronger battery out there in E-land?

Honestly I try to stay away from any apps that try and manage my power consumption. Over the years of using a smartphone I found the largest pig of my battery life is screen-on-time. Since getting my SIII I have played around with the brightness settings quite a bit. Long story short I found that if you really want to increase battery life just keep the brightness lower. Its simple and based on my experience it can make a huge difference.

 

[heavychevy]

In all honesty Samsung phones have weak radios. It will be slower on the same network, sometimes painfully so. Also to be honest, without root, jelly bean won't be an option for a while, I say 6 months, in which case they may delay it for the next phone release like they did the s2 with ics.

That being said, I don't like Apple, just trying to keep it real.

 

[Sandroidfan]

In all honesty Samsung phones have weak radios. It will be slower on the same network, sometimes painfully so. Also to be honest, without root, jelly bean won't be an option for a while, I say 6 months, in which case they may delay it for the next phone release like they did the s2 with ics.

I disagree with this. Only some of their CDMA smart-phones using Via modem chip were POS on reception. Otherwise their radios are average with others.

GS3 radio might not be the best. But it seems to beat Gnex hands down on call quality and 4G reception on VZW, coming pretty close to Razr or even better sometimes. I think a lot of that is due to better qualcomm S4 modem in GS3 vs subpar Via modem in Gnex.

 

[hbryder]

I'm going to try and make this short

I've was there in the beginning with Android with the Moto Droid. Have had most of the newest/latest greatest when they came out. I've had phones such as the X, the Incredible etc. etc. Even got into a little bit of Rooting with the X - didn't care for the rooting game at all.

So about two years ago, I went to the Iphone. I was a mac user anyway and I also have an ipad. I recently replaced my wife's 4s with a S3 due to her frustration with group texting and navigation on the iphone. Basically just got tired of the bitching.

All that said, I felt that the ANDROID os was, well... in it's infant stages.

Now that I've got my wife back in the Android world with the S3... wow. It's a pretty awesome phone. Screen is beautiful, and the feel is awsome. Super speedy and seemingly stutter-free. I liked it so much, I went out and got one. Playing around with it, here are my issues that are pushing me back to my 4s.

1. Contacts are a mess. I can't touch/click on a name or face and have it directly dial out. I've got to go through many steps.

2. Voice recognition is a mess. Siri isn't perfect, but the samsung voice control is week at best. For example, If I call on Siri and simply say "what is the Team USA medal count". She'll immediately do a web search and I can choose a result. Again, she isn't always on here game, but it's much more refined. IMO

3. LTE is nice... but often times, my 4s is pulling down info faster on the web even when the 4LTE is illuminated at the top of the phone.

I really want this to work as Apple isn't really sparking anything new right now. Nothing exciting - but I know that's a personal opinion. My apple buddies would probably be looking to shoot me right now.

HELP! Make my experience all that it could be.

1. Not sure if anyone answered this, but a cool feature in this phone is when you press a contact, or even in the midst of texting all you have to do is hold your phone to your ear and it will dial the contact. You will hear a slight buzz/vibration to let you know it's connected.

 

[liteon163]

As far as screen time and battery usage, dark wallpaper will help reduce drain. It may be a minor improvement, at best, but it also helps show off the high contrast of the SAMOLED screen.

If it is possible for an app to display light text on a dark background, I do so for apps I use inside. Outside it's a pain, but it works well inside. Especially in the dark.

 

[heavychevy]

I disagree with this. Only some of their CDMA smart-phones using Via modem chip were POS on reception. Otherwise their radios are average with others.

GS3 radio might not be the best. But it seems to beat Gnex hands down on call quality and 4G reception on VZW, coming pretty close to Razr or even better sometimes. I think a lot of that is due to better qualcomm S4 modem in GS3 vs subpar Via modem in Gnex.

This one is not garbage, it's better than before, but only barely. It's still not very good, hence all of the complaints. Try to load web pages or YouTube videos next to other phones and the galaxy gets left in the dust. Signal issues and roaming are still a common issue. Radios are not comparable to the likes of HTC and from the sounds of things the iPhone either.

 

[Easilyamused]

Radios are not comparable to the likes of HTC....

Really....?

I find this very interesting... as the S3 and the HTC One X/Evo, both the "flagship" devices of their respective manufacturers, use the Qualcomm S4 SoC (system on chip), with the radio cast on-die. In other words, they have THE EXACT SAME RADIO; At least the non international phones.

 

[Metfanant]

Radios are not comparable to the likes of HTC and from the sounds of things the iPhone either.

Really....?

I find this very interesting... as the S3 and the HTC One X/Evo, both the "flagship" devices of their respective manufacturers, use the Qualcomm S4 SoC (system on chip), with the radio cast on-die. In other words, they have THE EXACT SAME RADIO; At least the non international phones.

he must have meant Motorola...everyone knows Moto has the best radios:evil:

 

[GoldenDiamond]

Thanks for the awesome replies.

I would agree with Clitrenta, in that the Iphone has just become boring for me. However and with all due respect, I want ajustability as well as ease. Meaning that I don't want to mess with rooting in order to have the phone do what I want it to do. I'm sitting here looking at my 4s, thinking that I'm going to give the S3 another week or so.

Concerning "Direct Dialing".... how do I do that? do I have to assign something to the contact?

Also, I use to be able to make the LED a different color for different notifications... (back in the day). Is that no longer an option or was I able to do that in a different launcher. I really don't want to change launchers.

Lastly, how can I improve my battery? Is there a stronger battery out there in E-land?

got $100 for a new battery? 4600mAh

[HLI-I9300XL] Buy Mugen Power 4600mAh Extended Battery for Samsung Galaxy S3 I9300 / AT&T Samsumg Galaxy S III I747 / Verzion Samsung Galaxy S III I535 with Battery Door

 

[Mostly Harmless]

I would disable S-voice and just use Google voice search. I just asked it how many medals the US won and got the same answer as the guys with Google now.

 

[Steve Adams]

Where is everyone to that their Samsung phones are slower than the iPhone, I had the iPhone 4, my son has the 4s and my s2x side by side. My galaxy killed the apple products doing anything. Search the net both on wifi and network my s2x was much faster. Opening the same apps, again my s2x was noticeably faster. The s3 should mop u the current I"stuff".

 

[aznguyen316]

What was the frustration with group texting with your wife? Curious b/c I think Apple and iOS has done group texting the best. Seemless integration while Android has only third party solutions with handcent/gosmspro doing alternative methods of MMS group...

unless you meant she hated it and wanted out of group texts haha

 

[clitrenta]

Concerning "Direct Dialing".... how do I do that? do I have to assign something to the contact?

If you know how to add a widget (I assume you do by now), you will find "Direct Dial" and "Direct Message" in the list of widgets you can add. Choose one of those and it will allow you to scroll through all your numbers for all contacts. simply choose the one you want. Pretty easy.

 

[mikes1]

I will give you my tips for the battery. Since wifi is so easily available now I keep mine connected for the most part. At home and work I am usually on wifi. This keeps my battery in good shape compared to using 4g. Other than that I use auto brightness and then I use the smart stay feature with a 15 second timeout. That way the screen is only on if I am looking at it. I also make sure to close my apps if I am not using them. Just hold down the home button to bring up the task manager. My last battery check that I did reads 34% - Discharging. 17h 3m 50s on battery! That's pretty good and it's not like I let the thing sit around all day. I use it a lot

 

[Sandroidfan]

Try to load web pages or YouTube videos next to other phones and the galaxy gets left in the dust. Signal issues and roaming are still a common issue. Radios are not comparable to the likes of HTC and from the sounds of things the iPhone either.

Not sure what carrier version you are talking about. Certainly that's not the case with at&t, verizon ones especially if in LTE areas. GS3 has pretty strong 4G performance. I guess OP was in marginal 4G area. iPhone 4S has quite strong 3G radio.

 

[clitrenta]

Clearly the biggest battery hog is the screen which I actually keep on the brightest setting (the cost of getting old - I need more light). Even still, my battery lasts me a fair amount of the day. Sometimes I throw it on the charger at work for about an hour if I'm going to be out and about later. I turn off WiFi when I'm at work (no wifi here). On the weekends, I have it on all the time and the battery lasts considerably longer since it's using WiFi most of the time. I really can't complain because from my somewhat vast experience with smart phones, the S3 is as least as good as most other phones and maybe better.

 

[mlc331]

Concerning loading pages between my 4s and my S3. I do believe that it is related to my signal stregth. Compared to my 4s the S3 does NOT have as good of reception. In my office, I'm often at 2 and sometimes even 1 bar of reception with my S3. My 4s is ALWAYS 3 and rarely 2. When I'm on the throne at work, my 4s would always be at 2 bars. The S3..... at one if existant at all.

That said, I'm not quite sure that the battery life is better or worse than the 4s. My gut is telling me that the 4s is better, but when you first get your new tow, you are ALWAYS playing with it.

I've decided to give the phone another week. Seems that with each day comes more comfort. Something about the 4s that I can't really put in to words... using it is almost an emotional experience... I know, I know.... "what does that mean?". I have no idea

I'm going to continue to work with this S3 for a bit and see if I can get more out of it. I really like it's form factor and LOVE the screen. Not sure if it's clearer or just bigger... or both. I've seen lot's of arguments on both sides. For now, I just want to be able to use it... the way I want... without thinking to much. Maybe that's what the 4s allows me to do. Maybe once you get the S3 to your liking with all the things you can customize... That's what you'll get.

Thanks again for all the input. MUCH APPRECIATED!

 

[Easilyamused]

Concerning loading pages between my 4s and my S3. I do believe that it is related to my signal stregth. Compared to my 4s the S3 does NOT have as good of reception. In my office, I'm often at 2 and sometimes even 1 bar of reception with my S3. My 4s is ALWAYS 3 and rarely 2. When I'm on the throne at work, my 4s would always be at 2 bars. The S3..... at one if existant at all.

Comparing bars across different devices/manufacturers is meaningless. Check the actual decibels.

That said, I'm not quite sure that the battery life is better or worse than the 4s. My gut is telling me that the 4s is better, but when you first get your new tow, you are ALWAYS playing with it.

Good point. Most people find the battery life comparable or even better on the S3. I imagine that has a lot to do with how one uses their phone as well as signal quality (if the radio is constantly searching for an LTE signal that can significantly lower battery time). Keep in min tho that you can get extended batteries for the S3 for as little as $15.

Amazon.com: EZOPower High Capacity Extended Replacement Battery (4200mAh) + White Door for Samsung Galaxy S3 SIII i9300 (AT&T i747, T-Mobile, Sprint, Verizon) Android Phone: Cell Phones & Accessories

I've decided to give the phone another week. Seems that with each day comes more comfort. Something about the 4s that I can't really put in to words... using it is almost an emotional experience... I know, I know.... "what does that mean?". I have no idea

I'm going to continue to work with this S3 for a bit and see if I can get more out of it. I really like it's form factor and LOVE the screen. Not sure if it's clearer or just bigger... or both. I've seen lot's of arguments on both sides. For now, I just want to be able to use it... the way I want... without thinking to much. Maybe that's what the 4s allows me to do. Maybe once you get the S3 to your liking with all the things you can customize... That's what you'll get.

Thanks again for all the input. MUCH APPRECIATED!

Good point